A Trip Down Memory Lane
by MarieStarbuck
Summary: A Christmas story. Set in the future. There will be MerDer, McChildren and much more.
1. Chapter 1

The living room looked like it had been ransacked. Every available surface was covered in tinsel or glittering fake snow, twinkling fairy lights dripped from the ceiling and the tree itself, decked with a mindboggling amount of decorations, easily took up quarter of the room.

The small voice in Meredith's head still whispered that the living room looks like 'Santa's freaking village' but it seems that motherhood has mellowed her and because the kids seem so utterly enchanted with the shining, glittering cavern that was once their front room, she finds herself starting to like it.

At four years old Emily Shepherd was easily capable of making her opinion heard; much to the chagrin of her parents. Happily, little Emily absolutely adored their newly transformed living room and delighted in inviting her friends from daycare over in order to show off her winter wonderland. Her younger brother, Chris, was much less impressed; being only eighteen months old the lights and glitter interested him but his attention easily wandered.

Chris was already fast asleep on his father's chest as eight o'clock on Christmas Eve came around however Em was still valiantly trying to fight exhaustion in the vain hope of seeing Santa arrive.

Completely out of the blue Emily turns to her mother inquisitively and asks "Why is there stockings with George and Izzie on them?"

Meredith stumbles momentarily, grasping for an answer, before deciding that Emily should know about the Aunt and uncle and the reasons they aren't here. "One is for your Uncle George. He went to heaven a long time before you were born but he would have been your favourite uncle; he was funny and kind and loved kids. The other is for your Aunt Izzie, she left before you were born but we hope she'll come home when she's ready. Aunt Izzie was beautiful; with long blonde hair and blue eyes like a princess. She was the one that showed Mommy how to make everything pretty for Christmas. They're both part of our family, even though they're not here, so we always put their stockings up."

"Okay, momma" Emily replied sleepily before yawning widely and then closing her eyes and giving in to sleep.

Meredith quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before carrying Emily carefully upstairs to her bed. She hoped she'd explained about George and Izzie well enough; Emily wasn't old enough to understand the complexities of Izzie's cancer or George's sacrifice which resulted in his death. Maybe when she was old enough then Meredith would tell her the whole story but for now she knew that they existed and that was enough.

After settling Emily for the night and checking in on Chris, who Derek had put to bed, Meredith wandered back downstairs and lay under the Christmas tree. Exactly like she had done long ago she lay quietly and looked up at the lights. Every year she did this and, understanding its significance, Derek crept quietly into the room and lay silently next to her; both of them reliving cherished memories of those no longer with them.

So, what do you think? I've got an idea for maybe another Chapter or two. Yes, I know there's a lot of missing George in my stories, I'm still not over his death :'( Hopefully I can write some MerDer Christmas fluff to balance things out xD Read and Review. Marie X


	2. Chapter 2

Despite it being a day off and Christmas at that, Meredith still woke up at 5 O'clock on the dot; years of medical residency followed by a permanent attending position ruling her internal body clock. Happily her husband was ruled by much the same hours so as she woke she felt a familiar arm tighten around her waist and a well remembered tickling sensation as he began to place butterfly light kisses on the nape of her neck. "Morning." She murmured whilst stretching in a cat-like fashion before settling comfortably back again his chest.  
"Merry Christmas Mer" Derek replied before returning to his earlier task and pulling her yet closer to him. She could hear the smile in his voice and knew, without turning, that he was giving her a patented McDreamy look.  
Sure enough, their peace didn't last long as they heard the pitter patter of tiny footsteps along the hallway and the door of their room burst open to reveal a very excited four year old, black curls spiralling everywhere and blue eyes wide with expectation.  
"Momma! Dada! It's Christmas! Has Santa been? Where presents?" Before a very amused looking Meredith and Derek were able to respond Emily was firing off yet more questions in an unstoppable haste. "Can I goes downstairs? Can I open presents? Is Chris awake? I'm hungry." To stop the ongoing torrent of questions Derek let go of Mer and scooped his little girl into his arms before settling her in the middle of the bed; staring wide eyed at her parents. "Merry Christmas Em-Bug." Derek told her, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled down at her. "Did you go to sleep last night?"  
"Uh huh!" protested Em fiercely.  
"Hmmmm and I suppose you've been a good girl?" Meredith grinned as she realised what Der was doing.  
"Me good girl!" Emily boasted proudly.  
"Yep, you're a good girl Em-bug." Meredith declared quietly whilst beginning to tickle Em's tummy causing her to break out into fits of giggles. "Momma! Momma!" She yelled delightedly, relishing the attention.  
"Shall we go see if Chris is awake Em? Then we can see if Santa delivered the presents." The smile of Em's face was infectious and before long the sound of laughter echoed throughout the entire house.

_So, this chapter is kind of filler. I haven't written a story with much dialogue in AGES, I'm kind of rusty. It's starting to come back to me but bear with me and feel free to point out any mistakes. Read and Review. Marie X_


	3. Chapter 3

Christmas preparations were in full swing; Derek was handling the cooking like a pro chef, Meredith was contributing by stirring random pans now and then. Em and Chris, both spoilt rotten this year, were happily working their way through the mountain of presents they had received; Mer hated to think about the large amount of gifts yet to come from Aunts and Uncles who were coming round later.  
This Christmas has an almost bittersweet feel to it; the magic and excitement were still there but Mer and Derek both knew that this was the last year in Mer's mother's house and that next Christmas they would finally be living in the dream house.  
The doorbell rang sharply. "Em, do you wanna get that?" Meredith yelled, knowing that if she herself answered the first question out the visitor's mouth would be 'where's Em and Chris?'  
As Em opened the door she was met by an unfamiliar face; a woman of about her mother's age gazed down at her, long blonde hair spilling down her back and a nervous grin splitting her face. "Hello?" Em asked, unsure of how she should react to the stranger.  
"Hello Sweetie." The woman smiled reassuringly "Is your Mommy in?"  
"I'll go get Mommy" Em replied confidently "Can you wait here?" Remembering what Derek had told her about letting strangers in the house and gently shutting the door behind herself. Em ran to find her Mother only to find her halfway down the hall, coming to find out what was happening. Em began to explain the situation to Mer whilst pulling open the door. "There's a woman at the door who wants you Mommy." in a whisper she then told her Mom "She looks like a princess, like you said Aunt Izzie looked!"  
A look of shock registered on Mer's face as she came face to face with the stranger and a familiar voice spoke "You've got a clever kid, Mer."

_Dun, dun, dun! Next chapter should be up soon. At the moment I'm posting shorter updates, more often. Would anyone prefer long updates less often? Enjoy. Read and review. Marie X_


End file.
